Toy



B. RICHTER Jan. 24, 1939.

TOY

Fil ed" March 4, 193 8 INVENTOR BE/V P/[f/Tf/ 7 ATTORNEY Patented Jan.24, 1939 UNITED STATES TOY Ben Richter, Flushing, N. Y.

Application March 4,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to hollow rubber toys for children or householdanimal pets, and particularly to hollow rubber toys provided with sounddevices or voices.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a hollowrubber toy of improved construction which is durable in use andinexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hollow rubber toyhaving improved means for retaining a sound device or voice in theinside thereof.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will appear from the followingdetailed description and the appended claims.

Hollow rubber toys of the type contemplated by the instant invention, asheretofore commonly constructed, had substantially thin walls andtherefore had a relatively short life particularly when given to a petdog or cat as a plaything. Such hollow rubber toys necessarily had tohave thin walls when they were provided with a sound device or voicewhich was adapted to emit a sound when air is forced in or out of therubber toy by manipulation of the wall thereof, as by pressing the walland releasing the pressure. The hollow rubber toy of the instantinvention is provided with a heavy wall for substantially its wholesurface which construction makes for a strong toy capable of survivingrough usage as from the teeth of a household pet animal.

The hollow rubber toy of the present invention is adapted to receive asound device or voice which emits a sound when the toy is tipped in anydirection. To this end the rubber toy is provided with an opening havingthin elastic lips through which the sound device is inserted. The sounddevice is preferably of larger size than the normal opening of therubber toy, the construction and arrangement being such that the lipsretain the sound device or voice within the rubber toy after itsinsertion therein.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, particularly withreference to the drawing wherein the preferred embodiments of myinvention are shown. It is to be understood, however, that thisdescription is given by way of example only and is in no way limitative.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of my improved hollow rubber toyshowing the substantially heavy wall and the sound device or voice onthe inside of the rubber toy;

Figure 2 is a view, partly in section, of the hol- 1938, Serial No.193,869

low rubber toy made in the form of the head of an animal;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 in Figure 2, showinga number of ribs formed on the inside of the hollow rubber toy for thepurpose of retaining the sound device or voice in position therein;

Figure 4 is a view, partly in section, showing a modified form of myinvention wherein a plate is inserted over the opening in the rubber toyfor the purpose of affording protection to the sound device or voice,and 1 Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the rubber toy shown in Figure4.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several viewsof the drawing.

Reference numeral 6 indicates a hollow substantially spherical bodypreferably made of rubber, although any other suitable material may beemployed. The wall of the hollow body is of a varying thickness, beingthicker at its upper portion as shown at l, and tapers gradually as itapproaches an opening 8 at the bottom of the body. The opening 9 issurrounded with a flat' annular ring 9 which is integral with the wallof the hollow body. As is shown in Figure 2, the outer surface of thehollow body 6 may be molded in the form to simulate an animal's face.

The thickness of lip 9 is preferably such that the lip is quite elasticso that a sound device or voice II, which has a housing or casing I2 oflarger diameter than the normal opening of lip 9, may be passed throughthe opening 8. The lip 9 serves to retain the sound device or voice [Iwithin the hollow body, i. c. it prevents the voice from falling outonce it has been inserted within the hollow body.

The sound device or voice I I is of a type which comprises a casing onthe inside of which is attached a weighted cloth bellows. When thehousing is tipped or inverted, the weight causes the bellows to contractand expand thereby causing a sounding element carried by the bellows toemit a sound or noise. One of the end closure members, such as is shownat l3 in-Figure 1, is perforated to permit the sound or noise to leavethe housing I2. I

The housing is preferably of such size as to contact the upper insidewall of the hollow body to prevent the sound device or voice frombouncing around on the inside of the body. To this end, the inside ofthe hollow body is provided with ribs E4, which may be molded integralwith the hollow body, adapted to hold the sound device or voice firmlyin position within the body,

In the modification shown in Figures 4 and 5, the lip 9 is provided withan annular groove l 5, which groove is adapted to receive a. perforatemetal plate Hi. This metal plate is adapted to protect the closuremember l3 which is usually of paper from the teeth of the household petanimal, or the exploring fingers of a child.

The toy of my invention is particularly attractive to children and petanimals since the slightest movement of the toy causes a sound or noiseto be emitted therefrom; there is no need to compress the wall of thetoy. Accordingly, I may form the Wall of the toy of hard rubber orsponge rubber of such thickness which makes it difficult to compress thesame. The thick wall may be bitten into by the sharp teeth of the petanimal Without destroying the toy or in any way impairing itsusefulness.

While the invention has been described as being preferably made ofrubber, it will readily be appreciated that, since it is not necessaryfor the operation of the sound device that the wall of the toy becompressed, the wall of the toy may be made of substantially rigidconstruction as, for example, from pyroxylin, artificial resins, organicderivatives of cellulose such as cellulose acetate, cellulose etherssuch as benzyl cellulose or any other synthetic materials.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description anddrawing are given merely by way of illustration and that many variationsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

A toy having a substantially spherical hollow rubber body having anopening therein, the wall of said body varying in thickness taperingtoward said opening and being bent at said opening to form a flat,elastic lip, a sound device within said hollow body, ribs on the insideof said body for preventing movement of said sound device relative tosaid body, and a perforate metal plate mounted in said lip for coveringsaid opening.

BEN RICHTER.

